


and we fell from the stars

by deargalileo



Category: Langst - Fandom, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Langst, M/M, Original Character(s), Space Uncle Coran (Voltron), They/Them for Pidge, a lot of time skips, fluff in some bits, hints at klance but nothing happens with it, hints at shallura, lack of tags to prevent spoilers, lance is Bi and Sad, lots of wounds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2018-11-01 09:49:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10919364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deargalileo/pseuds/deargalileo
Summary: When Lance is shot down during battle, he finds something that he thought he would never have again- a home.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> woooah first chapter! this one is short, but the rest are longer :) hope you enjoy!!

The stars had never seemed closer than they do now. As Lance spun out into space, it almost felt like he could reach out… And touch them. Blue’s window was smashed, but every so often he could see the glaring ball of light. The interior of her was no longer lit, and all of his light came from the stars. Was this all he had left? The light of stars, the light of burning gas? Before he left for the Garrison, his little brother had asked him to do something. _“Touch the stars for me hermano?”_ Maybe he could do it now, before he died.

 

Because Lance was going to die here.

 

This was the only outcome that Lance could see. Blue wasn’t responding anymore after taking all of those hits. Her constant presence in Lance’s mind was gone. She was no longer there sending feelings, or the occasional purr through Lance’s mind. It was all just empty. After so long, he had become dependant on Blue, knowing that he always had her throughout everything. Now, she was gone.

 

Lance was truly alone. Part of him wanted to be angry at the other paladins because some of the blame could be placed on them, but Lance didn’t want to focus his energy on being angry. It was out of control now. If Lance went completely silent, he could hear the faint noise of destruction from the battle above. With or without him, it would go on.

* * *

 

_Everyone was on the coms, all talking at once. Allura was shouting orders, but so was Shiro, and it sounded like they were arguing with each other. Pidge was demanding that they go into the ship because there might be prisoners, Matt might be in there. Keith was calling for backup, and Hunk was on his way to help him. Lance was by himself, trying to take down as many smaller fighter jets as possible. He had found a backside to the ship, where more of the jets were coming out of. As he turned the corner and came into view, the jets turned towards him.Oh no._

 

_“Guys!” He shouted into the com, hoping his voice would be heard through the commotion. “I need some backup here!” The jets started firing, the first shot almost hit Blue straight on. He narrowly avoided it, pulling Blue up sharply. “Guys?” Everyone continued to shout, ignoring Lance. “Hello? Pidge, can you come over to where I am? I have run into a bit-” His cry for help was cut off by a shot hitting Blue on the side, knocking her back._

 

_“Shut up Lance!” Keith growled. Lance opened his mouth to send back a retort, but had the wind knocked out of him with the force of another direct hit. Blue was taking more and more shots, and red lights were coming on. A alarm in Blue was going off, signifying that systems were failing._

 

_**Danger. Get away.** Blue communicated. Her thoughts slid through Lance’s mind, usually smooth, but was now hinting at panic. **Go!** “_

 

_I’m trying,” Lance said out loud through gritted teeth. After all of the damage, Blue wasn’t moving as well as she usually did. He could feel her trying to move, to get away, but she was hurt. Blue was surrounded by the jets, they were circling, but they had ceased fire. Why-_

 

_Realization hit Lance like a brick. His eyes widened, and he scrambled to get Blue moving again. A ion cannon in the distance was moving, aiming at Lance. “Guys, guys, guys- Help,” Lance choked out. There was no direct response to him, but one of the last shots had caused Lance to hit his head against the chair. The helmet was hit pretty hard. The coms were losing connection, only bits and pieces of what the others said would come through. “Anyone-” His voice was panicked and cracking, he didn’t have much time-_

 

_A bright beam of light shot through the dark space, hitting Blue right in the face. There was no chance for Lance; There was no way he would have avoided it. For less than a second, everything was just bright- Blue’s interior was filled with light, and Lance couldn’t resist keeping his eyes open for this immense light. He could pretend he was staring into the sun on the beach on Earth._

 

_The force of the cannon sent everything flying, including Lance. He was ejected out of his seat, landing hard. There was a sickening crunch. He had hit the ground, and something sharp cut the skin behind his ear. His arm was in immense pain- it must be broken. Blue was spinning out of control, she was literally spinning. Lance forced himself off of the ground, and back into the seat. His hand scrambled for the controls, hitting buttons, but nothing was working._

 

_“He-” Lance heard. His heart was lifted. His coms were working!_

 

_“_ _Guys! Blue lost control, I need help-” Lance started. “He needs to learn how to listen,” That was Shiro. His voice came through garbled and messed up, but Lance could hear him._

 

_“Where did he go this time?” Pidge._

 

_“Who knows, he’s not here for us right now.” Keith’s voice was harsh, or was that just the bad connection?_

 

_“_ _He needs to learn how to be a true paladin, how to work together with his teammates and not go off on his own. This unruly behavior could get someone hurt.” Allura was exasperated._

 

_Every time that Lance tried to speak, tried to tell the others that he needed help in rushed out, blurted words, he was spoken over. They couldn’t hear him._

* * *

 

That was where he was now. There was no noise, except for Lance’s winded pants from the pain. Not even the crackle from the coms. Blue was gone. Her presence no longer sat in the back of Lance’s mind.

 

He was entering a planet’s atmosphere now. Blue started falling faster and faster. Lance couldn’t see the planet he was headed to, but its gravity was pulling him to it. Heat rose in the room.

 

_I am going to die_. Lance tried to look through the cracked window, but all he saw through the shatters was small flames licking up on Blue. The faster she fell, the more fire would come, Lance knew. He would hit the ground, and die.

 

_It can’t be that bad_. Death wasn’t a new thought to Lance. This is what part of him had wanted, wasn’t it? His arm was in immense pain right now so dying would take that pain away, right? A small flicker of fear raced through Lance’s mind. Before Voltron, even before the Garrison, he had only experienced death up close once before. His grandmother had died when he was 10. Most of what he could remember was his mother crying softly in the kitchen and whispers of how she was now in heaven. Would he go to heaven now? Before Voltron he had thought that heaven was a place in the sky but now he clung to the belief that it was anywhere but. The sky, and space was nothing but emptiness. All space had was distance and loneliness. Heaven must be better than this.

 

An unbidden sob came out of Lance. He had always thought he was going to die on Earth, but now he couldn’t be further from his home. He just missed Earth so _goddamn much._ He missed when his whole family worked together to make a big feast just because they wanted to. He missed his sisters who would always tease him but were the ones who taught him everything he knows about painting nails and doing face masks. He missed his younger siblings who were constantly running around, but loved to hear stories about the stars. He missed his mom, he missed his dad.

 

Lance was crying now, not even bothering to wipe away his tears. He didn’t think he even could if he wanted to though- one of his arms would send a wave of pain every time it was jostled, and his other hand was gripping the armrest of the seat so he doesn’t go flying out of his seat again.

 

“Lo siento mucho mamá,” Lance whimpered. “I am so sorry.” _I wonder if I will get a funeral. I wonder if the others will find my body- I wonder if they will look._

 

Sneaking out of Garrison was never supposed to end up like this, they were supposed to go home in a few weeks for a break, his sister was getting married in the summer, it was never supposed to be like this. “Yo era apenas un niño,” He was getting closer and closer to the planet. “I was just a child, I am so sorry!” Lance’s throat stung. He hadn’t realized he was screaming. _I am still just a child._

 

“I’m sorry, mamá.” Lance’s voice was quieter now, just above a whisper. His time was running out, he knew that much. A bead of sweat from the heat dripped down his back. Lance closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the chair. He was going to die in a matter of moments, no sense in trying any more.

 

Lance had given up. The fire, and the world outside was getting louder and louder as he got closer to the ground. He was only seconds away now, that much he could tell.

 

“I hope heaven is like Varadero. I want to go home.” Lance Mcclain’s world went dark.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> translations at the end :)

Shouting. Loud voices. Shrill screams of a bird. Waves crashing. Laughter.

 

When Lance first opened his eyes, he couldn’t believe it. He was on Varadero beach, right by his house. His younger siblings were running around, splashing in the water and calling his name. The shrill shrieks came from seagulls flying high above. Lance turned around, and found his childhood home. It looked exactly the same, with the same broken window and chipping paint. He could see one of his older sisters sitting on the patio. She waved at him, smiling and taking a sip of the drink she was holding. Lance waved back, grinning.

 

“Lance! Come on!” His younger sister Mira called. There was footsteps behind him, and a tug on his hand. “The sand is hot!” Almost the moment she spoke those words, Lance could feel the burning sand between his toes. He savoured it for a moment, the grains shifting under his toes.

 

Having a week off from the Garrison was always one of the best things. It felt like that he hasn’t been home in forever. But- This was different. Something was off, there was something he was forgetting-

 

“Come up here hermanito! I want to talk to my favorite brother!” His older sister called to him, from her seat behind them. Lance rubbed the head of Mira, gently taking his hand from her grasp. She pouted when Lance turned towards the patio, muttering something about how big kids never wanted to have fun. Lance could also hear the scoffs and complaints from his younger brothers behind him (most likely complaining about the favorite brother comment), but ignored them and ran to the patio. It was when he got there that he found the reason of the term of endearment- Cleo had various bottles of nail polish laid out. Lance found himself chuckling, but sat down. Without words, Cleo placed a bottle of blue nail polish by him, and presented her hands. “How are you doing? We haven’t really talked since you got back.” Lance shrugged, and gently tapped the bottle of nail polish against the palm of his hand, mixing it.

 

“I feel good. It is nice to be home, but-” Words left Lance as he struggled to convey what was going on in his mind. “Something feels off.” Cleo smiled kindly at him.

 

“That is probably because you are so used to the strict life at the Garrison. It can’t be easy going from tough drills and set sleeping schedules to this.” Cleo chuckled, her eyes focused on Lance’s as he applied the first coat of nail polish to her hand. “I have never been there, but I can’t imagine they act like the loving family that you come from.” Lance let out a shaky breath, not sure why he felt like crying. “Then you come back to us, and are nearly overwhelmed with affection. It is kind of like culture shock. You haven’t been home in a while.”

 

“Y-yeah.” That was all that Lance could manage to get out. Why was he about to be in tears? He didn’t think he could talk anymore, lest his voice cracks or he starts to cry. There was a stone in his throat, blocking the words he wanted to say. Cleo seemed to sense this, and filled the air with stories of things that happened while he was away.

 

She was halfway through a story about when she tried to go on a blind date. Cleo knew fully well that their mom did not approve of blind dates, but Cleo had gone through with it anyway. When she got to the restaurant, she found that their mom and dad “just happened” to be there for dinner as well. When Cleo confronted them, their mom acted innocent and managed to invite herself to the table where Cleo and her date were sitting. Cleo told the story without a trace of anger and annoyance, her voice full of laughter. Even though her hands were placed on the table, they still shook with laughter.

 

“And he never called me back!” Cleo finished, cackling. Lance’s side hurt from trying to hold in the laughter (he didn’t want to mess up her nail polish), but for a moment it hurt more than that. It felt like something was carving into his side, like a dulled knife. The pain was slow and dull- it was throbbing. Then it was gone. Lance chose to ignore the strange split second pain and finished applying the clear top coat to her nails.

 

“Lance! These look amazing. Thank you!” Cleo said loudly. Lance smiled at her, and closed the bottle. “Do you want me to do your nails? I know they won’t come out as good as when you do it, but-” Rapid footprints approached behind Lance. He didn’t need to look behind him to know that it was Mira.

 

“No he doesn’t!” She shouted. She once again tugged on Lance’s shirt. “Come on!” Cleo showed her newly painted nails to the young girl.

 

“Mira, aren’t these pretty? Do you want Lance to do your nails as well?” Mira shook her head.

 

“I want to play in the water with Lance!” Mira was practically vibrating with energy. Lance could hear his other young siblings splashing around in the water. Cleo smiled at Lance, and gave a small nod.

 

“Go. Enjoy yourself.” As Lance stood up to go, Cleo grabbed his hand delicately, careful to not smudge Lance’s hard work. “You are loved here.”

 

Before Lance could respond, Cleo stood up and pecked her brother on the cheek. She then walked inside the house. When Cleo opened the door, the clashing of pots and music could be heard, most presumably coming from the kitchen. Dinner would be ready soon, Lance could already smell it.

 

As Lance stood up, he inhaled deeply, taking in the smell of cooking dinner and ocean water. He had missed this while he was away… At the Garrison. Why didn’t that feel right in his mind? Something still felt off, something was still nagging at Lance’s mind.

 

“Lance,” Mira whined, snapping Lance out of his thoughts. Her small fingers slid alongside Lance’s and she squeezed his hand. Mira then took to pulling on his arm, her feet planted on the ground. She leaned away from Lance, straightening her back. Lance laughed at the action, and finally moved. He took a step towards Mira, making her drop to the ground, even though she was still clinging on Lance’s hand. Mira shrieked, making Lance laugh before leaning down and scooping her up in one quick motion.

 

Lance put Mira on his back, and ran down to the beach. Mira giggled and wrapped her arms around Lance’s neck. Lance ran down the few steps, and he was on the beach again. Mira was shouting in his ear to run faster, but Lance did not want to fall and have her go flying.

 

His legs spread across the sand, trying to limit the times his feet hit the ground. With every leap he could feel Mira’s body bouncing on his shoulders. She was laughing loudly, and Lance’s younger brothers who were already in the water called for them. The sand under his feet burned for only a moment, but by then he was in the cold water.

 

Why did the sensation feel so lost, so displaced?

 

Lance shrugged off the feeling and waded into the water. Mira giggled as Lance scrunched up his face from the shock of the temperature change. The shock quickly wore off, and Lance gently lowered Mira into the water. She instantly splashed him and though it only reached his torso, the water was cold. Lance yelped, making Mira and his brothers laugh even harder. Lance responded by scooping water up with his hands and pouring it on top of Mira. She shrieked and ran away. His brothers yelled at him playfully, and before Lance knew it, a full splash war had started.

 

Lance was laughing, his smile so wide it began to hurt. His side still hurt quite a bit, but Lance chose to ignore it. If it continued during dinner, Lance’s mom always knew how to make him feel better.

 

“Lance!” His brother yelled. Splashing could be heard behind Lance, and on instinct he braced for impact. With siblings, being pushed under the water was a common event.

 

Two small hands pressed firmly on Lance’s back, pushing harder than he expected. Lance hit the water hard, the surface feeling like concrete. Lance flailed his arms, trying to resurface again, hearing his siblings laugh hysterically. The water was deeper than Lance remembered- he continued sinking in the water.

 

The laughter from above started to sound like screams, but that must have been the water distorting the sounds. _Why was he still falling?_

 

“Lance, stop messing around.” The voice sounded familiar, the sharp edges cutting deep into open wounds.

 

That was Shiro.

 

A wall in Lance’s mind started to crumble down. It felt like Lance was waking up from a dream only to be in a nightmare. He remembered. He remembered the Garrison. He remembered Voltron, he remembered Shiro, Allura, Pidge, Keith, Hunk. How could he have forgotten? What was going on?

 

“He needs to learn how to be a true paladin,” Allura’s voice was clear. Lance was running out of air, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t swim up again.

 

“He’s never here when we need him.” That was Pidge, when he was late to a team practice. The night before he had stayed up because if his timing was right, it was his younger sister’s birthday. His counting was most likely off because of the wormholes, but Lance didn’t care. He had to celebrate, even if he couldn’t be there. In his family, it was customary to stay up until midnight to celebrate the start of a birthday. Lance had stayed up, but then was called out of bed earlier than he had expected for team training. That day, in short, was hell.

 

“Shut _up_ Lance!” Keith… During the battle.

 

The battle.

 

Lance wasn’t falling anymore, he was sitting at the dinner table. There was almost no space to put their plates, but that didn’t matter. The food that covered the table smelled fragrant, it smelled like home. All of the seats at the table were filled with various family members, but after a moment, Lance realized something was wrong.

 

His grandmother who had passed away almost ten years ago sat at the end of the table, staring at Lance. Her eyes burned into Lance’s, she obviously had something to say.

 

“Abuela? What is-” His voice was garbled, and it hurt to speak.

 

“Mi niño… My boy, you must not give up now.” Give up? “You must wake up. Lance-” His grandmother’s face flickered. “Lance-”

 

“Abuela?” Lance tried to stand up, but couldn’t. His whole body felt like he was on fire, there was _pain_.

 

“Lance, you will never be a true paladin.” That wasn’t her speaking. Her lips were moving, but it wasn’t the warm voice that he had grown up with.

 

It was Allura. Which didn’t make sense, why would-

 

Pain enveloped Lance’s body, making him cry out. It struck fast, starting in his arm, but spreading throughout his body. It was almost unbearable.

 

“Lance! You must wake up now.” That was his mother. “Now is not your time.” His grandmother disappeared, but Lance’s mom replaced her spot. “My dearest, you must come home to me, but not in this way. You cannot sleep now.” She tilted her head, and smiled at Lance. “Despierta mi querido. Wake up, my dear."

 

Right before Lance’s eyes, the table started to fade away. His siblings who were sitting at the table were next, then the walls, and the whole world. All that remained was his mother.

 

With a power he didn’t know he had, Lance pushed himself out of the chair. He ran to his mother, and flung his arms around her. The pain was unbearable now, but all that Lance could focus on was his mom.

 

“I miss you so much,” He sobbed. His mother hugged him back before pulling away from the embrace. She placed a gentle kiss on his forehead, and smiled at him.

 

“Keep going, Lance. You must.” Her voice was wavering, and that was when Lance noticed that she was disappearing as well.

 

“Mamá, no-” Lance choked out as she slipped from her grasp.

 

“Te quiero. I love you.” She was gone. Lance stumbled forward into the space where she used to stand, and hit the ground.

 

His vision went blurry, and Lance once again fell into darkness.

 

* * *

 

Lance woke up empty, and decidedly not dead. The pain- no- the pain was still there, but his mind felt empty. _Blue was still gone._

 

Lance tried to open his eyes, but they were covered in dried blood. He must have an open wound on his head somewhere. _How long had he been sitting here? Where was he?_ This was really bad. He was god knows where, and couldn’t even open his eyes enough to see where he was. A small shift to the side told Lance that he was still in the seat, and that his whole body was broken.

 

That was the only explanation. His body was in so much pain, an amount that he hadn’t even thought was possible. It felt like his head was splitting open, and from the amount of dried blood that was on his face, it may as well be. As far as he could tell, his armour was mostly intact, but his chestplate was digging into his side in an unnatural way. With every breath, it shifted a little, but it had cut skin. How was that even possible?

First thing first, he had to try and get his eyes open. Lance could tell that his right arm was broken, but his left wasn’t in as much pain. Guess he would have to do this left handed. Lance tried to relax his body first, taking deep breaths. That proved to be useless because with the chest plate, and various other points of pain. It was getting hard to breathe.

 

Without thinking twice, Lance lifted his left arm to his eye and began to try and chip away the dried blood.

 

“Argh!” He screamed. The pain was unbelievable, but Lance kept at it until his eye was cleared enough to see. He could also feel some fresh blood, so that means that somewhere on his head he had an open wound that was still bleeding. He dropped his arm, which hit his leg, creating even more pain.

 

Tears from the pain were streaming down Lance’s face, which did clear his eyes a bit more.

 

Lifting his arm once more, Lance gently poked around his torso. He found at least two open wounds, and from looking at his leg, it looked like it was about to get infected. It was completely exposed, the fabric from his pant leg torn.

 

Lance looked at his other leg, and nearly threw up. On his calf there was a horrible looking gash. It took Lance a moment to register what he was looking at, but he soon realized that it was his bone.

 

Lance felt the bile rise in his body so he closed his eyes quickly, and pressed his back against the chair so he was sitting up right again. He tried to focus on his breathing, but it was getting harder to do so.

  
Lance finally looked up. Blue’s front window was completely shattered, to the point where Lance couldn’t see anything out of the window. _Just great. Stranded on an unknown planet, bleeding out. Why couldn’t I just have had a fast death?_

 

He couldn’t get up. He couldn’t reach a first aid kit, and Blue wasn’t waking up. Panic rose in Lance’s stomach, but he pushed it down.

 

_What if I bleed out here?_ The thought instantly made Lance feel dizzy. Chances were that he would. He had multiple open wounds, and no way to clean or close or at least cover them. And who knew that was in this air, they could be infected by something strange.

 

_I am going to bleed out here._

 

Lance was really feeling light headed now. His breathing came in short, little gasps, but part of him knew that he was doing it to himself.

 

_I am going to die slowly here, and the paladins are never going to find me. Not even my body will make it back to Earth. No quiero a morir lentamente._

 

**Paladin**. Lance froze. That was Blue- Blue was speaking to him!

 

“Hey girl,” Lance wheezed out. Her lights weren’t on, but her presence was there, and for now, that was enough.

 

**Calm. Breathe. Less pain.** Lance closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the headrest of the chair. He inhaled deeply as Blue sent calming waves through his mind. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

 

The pain didn’t go away, but at least he was focused on something. He savored the feeling of having Blue in his mind again, knowing that he wasn’t alone. She was hurt badly, Lance could feel it. His heart tugged, wishing to do something to help her, but he couldn’t get out of the chair himself. He wouldn’t be much help if he was dead.

 

**Love. Paladin.** Blue sent waves of love and reassurance, but her presence was getting weaker. Lance realized what this meant and stopped focusing on breathing.

 

“Blue? No, no. Don’t leave me-” Lance moved to stand up, forgetting his current state, and tumbled to the ground. He didn’t land on the arm that was in the most pain, but the fall jostled everything. Lance cried out in agony, curling up into a ball. Blue was fading away more and more. Lance started to cry again, each sob clawing it’s way out of his chest, scraping every possible wound. The pain only made more tears fall, and Lance felt his head start to throb again. The mental interior was cool to touch, and Lance shivered.

 

Just like that, Blue was gone.

 

A string of curses fell out of Lance’s mouth, doing nothing to help his current situation. It did make him feel a bit better, though.

 

Lance’s vision began to become fuzzy again, alerting Lance that his consciousness was wavering. If he could just die in his sleep-

 

There was a large bang on the side of Blue, startling Lance out of his thoughts. There was faint words spoke, but Lance couldn’t hear it well enough to hear what they were saying. Loud footsteps, louder than a human could make. More talking. What sounded like a growl. More bangs on the side of Blue.

 

The panic was now gripping at Lance’s throat, ripping through his body. Fear immobilized his mind, he wasn’t able to breathe. He couldn’t get up, he couldn’t even move his body a little bit.

 

There were aliens on this planet, and from the sounds of it, they wanted in.

 

Blue’s particle barrier was down, that was how weak she was. Lance let out a little panicked whimper, not knowing what to do.

 

Lance was slipping further and further into the darkness- he was going to pass out again, and soon. The bangs stopped for a moment, and Lance let out a shaky breath.

 

Then the bangs started again, but they were more spread out this time. How many were out there? They were softer this time, like whoever was out there was more focused on getting themselves inside rather than alerting Lance of their presence.

 

Then, the unthinkable happened.

 

Blue opened her mouth. Lance’s body jerked violently with the unexpected movement, and the wind was knocked out of him. Just before he fell asleep, he saw shadowed figures.

 

Lance mentally said his final prayers just as he heard footsteps step into the cockpit of Blue. Lance never liked the sound of footsteps on the metallic that did not belong to him, and this was no exception. It always made him uneasy, to have other people in Blue. Why had she opened her mouth? She wouldn’t have done it because she wasn’t working, there must still be some power in her for her to open her mouth. But why would she do it and let these aliens in?

 

Thinking about it too hard made Lance’s head hurt.

 

Lance let his body go limp, the metal floor becoming cold. Darkness soon overtook his mind, and Lance was gone once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations: 
> 
> hermanito = little brother
> 
> Despierta mi querido = wake up my dear
> 
> Te quiero = I love you
> 
> No quiero a morir lentamente = I don't want to die slowly


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ack! yes this is late, but let me live. happy late birthday to lance :)

            It was getting real old, this whole routine of passing out every two minutes from various points of pain only to wake up in another painful position.

            This time, he wasn't alone. The things- the _aliens_ were in Blue. Lance could hear their feet scuffling around, he could hear them speaking. They weren't speaking in any language that he could recognize- but that wasn't that big of a surprise. With his helmet not working, he had no way of understanding them. Lance took a deep breath, trying to figure out a plan. That was cut off when a hand poked at a his side, probing the wound.

Lance cried out, his eyes ripping open, and his torso involuntarily jerking upwards.

There were strange murmurs in a different language, they were obviously startled by his reaction to the pain.

Lance forced his eyes opened, adjusting to the light. _There was light._

There were multiple figures leaning over him. _They looked human._ Their faces were structured just like humans, but they had strange gold markings on their faces that stood out against their dark skin.

Lance squinted, but yelped again when one poked at his leg. His eyes began to fill with tears from the pain, and he tried to raise his arm so he could beat the prodding hands away. That plan failed when Lance tried to lift the arm that was broken, inducing more pain. Lance cried out, startling the aliens.

“Get away!” Lance shouted. His voice was failing him. More talking in the strange language. The figures shuffled around, speaking more and more. Lance braced himself for whatever was about to happen because he could tell that they were going to take action. “Leave me alone!” Lance tried to shout again, but his voice faltered part of the way through the words.

Lance let his head drop against the floor again, knowing there was no way he could win this fight. He had no idea where his bayard was, or his helmet. Keeping his eyes open, Lance tried to steady his breathing.

In one sudden movement, Lance was lifted into the air. His head dropped back, a broken scream leaving him. The aliens were lifting Lance up, and started to walk. Starting to thrash around, Lance felt his consciousness start to leave him again. The pain was so intense that it felt like he was being thrown into fire.

He started to wiggle around, jabbing his fists out, hoping to land a punch on one of the aliens. Lance tried to kick his legs as well, but his left leg wasn’t responding.

Lance was panicking, and in tears. His mind was spinning, and the language barrier  wasn’t helping.

“Let go of me!” Lance yelled. “Just let me die here!”

This must be hell. Lance must be dead, and he had gone to hell because he could never had even fathomed pain this immense.

The aliens stopped walking, even though they had only taken a few steps. Lance stopped struggling, trying to figure out what was going on. There was a part in the group, and a alien came closer to Lance. They leant their face over Lance’s, they were inspecting him. Lance studied this particular alien, noticing how the others stood up straighter in his presence.

The alien’s skin was dark, but he had gold streaks decorating his face. There were two on his cheekbones, and then some marking his forehead and under his eyes. Lance was only assuming that he was male, or at least the human equivalent of a male. He had no way of telling for sure, especially not in his current state of being.

The light that was coming from the outside reflected off of the gold on the alien’s face, making the illusion of him almost glowing.

The alien looked stern, his face stony. There was no expression on his face. He stared down at Lance with a contempt look.

He was quite attractive, and if Lance wasn’t dying, he would take this chance to flirt with him. He could feel unconsciousness edging in his mind and Lance knew that if this pain continued, he would be gone.

Lance stopped fighting completely, letting his body go limp. The alien who was looking at him raised an eyebrow, he was surprised it seemed. The alien opened his mouth and said something in their language. The phrase was directed at Lance and the alien seemed to be expecting something in response. After a few moments, he said something again.

Dark spots were appearing in Lance’s vision. His head was spinning and it was suddenly heavier than before. The alien was talking more and more, but Lance couldn’t be bothered to try and keep up with him.

Lance made eye contact with the alien, staring intently.

“You look like an angel,” Lance spoke seriously, his words slurring. “El ángel.”

Everything from that point on only came in flashes. Lance weaved in and out of consciousness, only catching glimpses and never understanding what was going on.

-

He was being carried out of Blue, who was still silent. They were walking out of her mouth, down the ramp. Footsteps on a mental flooring changed into footsteps on what seemed to be grass, but he couldn’t be sure. Lance couldn’t move enough to look around him, but he did notice how bright it was, like a sunny day back on earth. The aliens were talking softly, and walking slowly. The footsteps were quiet Lance let himself slip away without resistance this time.

-

Lance shot his head up. He was being moved at a faster pace this time. He moved his head, and caught sight of little huts in the distance. Adrenaline started to pump through Lance, and he started to swing his legs again. The pain was intense, but it became only an afterthought as he tried to free himself from the grasp of the aliens. The moment he got his arm loose, a hand reached out, and grabbed it firmly. Lance let out a cry of pain, and the aliens halted. Lance let his eyes trail up to see who was grabbing him, and realized that it was the attractive alien from before. In his other hand he was holding a small metallic sphere. He spoke into the sphere, and Lance briefly wondered if he was hallucinating. After speaking into the sphere, the alien held it out.

“Calm down.” A computerized voice spoke from the sphere. It was speaking in Common-speak, a language that Allura had demanded that all of the paladins learned. It was used throughout the universe (in most places by diplomats) so the universe could at least understand the basics of each other. Lance was average at it, but he usually relied on his helmet to translate.

Lance startled at the phrase, not expecting that. His head was throbbing, but he looked up at the alien who was still looking sternly at him.

“What?” Lance croaked out, but then the remaining energy left him. Lance swiftly passed out.

-

Lance woke again. There was much more noise, and Lance wasn’t being carried the same way that he was before. He was on something that seems like a stretcher. More aliens were there, all speaking in the language. The stretcher was on the ground at the moment, and Lance savored being stationary. That seemed to only be a short time position because only seconds later they lifted the stretcher with Lance in it again. Lance’s head spun, and he felt like he was going to vomit. He turned his head to the side and started to cough. Lance could feel the bile in his body start to rise, but nothing came out, leaving Lance laying there, retching. The aliens seemed to notice this, and placed him back down on the ground. As he was lowered to the ground, something jostled them, making the landing a bit more harsh than it needed to be. Lance groaned, his head spinning as he fell unconscious.

-

The next times he woke up, he only caught scraps, glimpses of what was happening.

A dark room.

-

A cold metal surface on his back.

-

A bright light shining down in his eyes.

-

Dark, shadowed figures leaning over him.

-

A searing, wide spread pain through his whole body, and mind.

-

His mother.

-

Lance groggily opened his eyes, squinting into the light that shone above him. He was laying on something cold, and he was no longer wearing his armor. He wasn’t wearing a shirt either, but was wearing some type of shorts. The cloth was rough.

A soft groan left his lips as Lance’s head began to throb. He wasn’t in much pain anymore except for the small headache that was building under his eyes. Blue must still be out of commission, Lance couldn’t feel her.

Lance blinked a few more times, trying to adjust to the light. He shifted his head to the left, looking around him. The room he was in seemed sparse- there was only a small table, and a large window that looked into a hallway. As far as he could tell, the room was empty.

No one was in the hallway. It was dark. The walls were made out of what looked like to be stone, but the table that Lance was laying on felt like metal.

Just as Lance was trying to decide if he should get up, someone walked through the hallway, glancing into the room that Lance was in. They caught glimpse of Lance just as he was struggling to push himself up using his elbows, and hurried inside.

Lance caught a glimpse of the alien as they walked in. By human standards, they looked female, with long smooth hair that fell down to the small of her back. She too had the gold streaks on her face, but not as many as the one before had.

The alien walked in, smiling.

“Who are you?” Lance asked. His voice was still weak, and stung with every word. “Where am I?”

The alien frowned, and shook her head. She responded with something in their alien language that Lance couldn’t understand. Lance tried speaking in Common-speak next.

“Where am I?” He spoke more clearly this time, not being fluent in common-speak. The alien only shook her head again, and walked over to Lance. Lance flinched as she grew near, but the alien took no notice as she splayed out her fingers and faced her palms over Lance’s body.

With her hands hovering over Lance’s body, she closed her eyes and started to mumble something to herself. Instead of moving, or trying to get away, Lance stayed still. Trying to escape now wouldn’t go so well when he didn’t even know if he could walk.

The alien moved down to Lance’s legs, and gently touched one of them. Lance watched the movement, still not saying anything. When she first touched his leg, Lance mentally cringed, expecting there to be pain, but he felt… Nothing.

He felt no pain, but he also didn’t feel the touch. Panic started to rise. What if he lost his legs? What if in the fall they were damaged so badly that he would never be able to walk again? What if-

The alien poked at his leg again, a bit harder this time. Lance let out a sigh of relief when he felt her finger press into his leg. She gave him a pointed look, as if she was asking if he felt that. She then smiled when Lance nodded, and moved on.

The next few minutes were spent with the alien hovering her hands a few inches above Lance’s body. Once she had gone over Lance’s whole body, she seemed content. She stepped away from Lance and moved over to the wall on the other side of the room. Lance watched her, and noticed a cabinet he hadn’t seen before. The alien pulled what looked like paper out of it, and a pen. She walked over to the empty table and started to write. She seemed to be like a nurse.

Her back was to Lance, so Lance took that as his chance to escape. Trying to be as quiet as possible, Lance swung his hips, forcing his legs off of the table. He then pushed the rest of his body, praying that his legs would hold himself.

His prayers went unanswered, for the moment he put the weight of his body on his legs, his legs crumpled. They felt like pieces of paper that fold anytime they get weight put onto them.

“Oof,” Lance grunted as he hit the ground. The nurse alien turned around at the sound, raising an eyebrow when seeing Lance’s current position. She said something in her language, but it was obvious that she was scolding Lance. “Yeah, yeah.” Lance mumbled.

Lance pushed himself up so he was sitting upright. The nurse alien looked at him.

“I have to get to my lion,” Lance started. “You know, lion?” He raised his hands by his head, and spread out his fingers, trying to show a mane. The nurse didn’t say anything, instead  watched him, amused. Lance then moved on to bending his hands, trying to make claws. “Lion. I need to get to it.”

Lance didn’t understand the nurse’s response for obvious reasons, but it seemed to be in an apologetic tone. She couldn’t understand Lance.

Another alien passed by in the hallway just then. Lance watched- It was the alien from before, the one who had told him to calm down. Lance let his eyes follow the alien as he passed, expecting him to walk by without a second glance.

He was proven wrong, when the alien looked through the window. He caught gaze of Lance who was still in his uncomfortable position on the floor.  Lance realized that he still had his hands in the claw position, and felt his cheeks get hot, dropping his hands to his sides. _Suave, Lance._ He made eye contact with the alien, wondering what his first move would be. The alien gave him one look over, and sneered.

On instinct, Lance flipped the alien the bird, a reflex enforced in him since elementary school. The alien continued to walk, unaffected by the action. _Of course he was_ \- He was an alien, he didn’t understand the middle finger. Lance rolled his eyes, his head still throbbing.

Take two of trying to stand up; Lance turned his body so he could grab the edges of the table. The nurse behind him shuffled around papers, so Lance took that as a sign that she wasn’t paying attention.

Just as Lance started to pull himself up using the table, the door slid open. The alien stopped moving papers, and there was a new set of footsteps. Lance was halfway to pulling himself up, but his arms were already going limp.

With a thud, Lance hit the ground again. With this fall, he hit his head on the table behind him, sending waves of pain through his mind. Groaning, Lance kept himself on the floor, but looked up. The nurse alien wasn’t looking at Lance. Her body was stiffer, and she was looking at whoever had just walked in.

The alien who had just come in was well dressed. He was wearing formal robes, and had more gold markings on his face than Lance has seen on one- only rival to the alien who seems to keep haunting him.

This alien was obviously held some type of power, judging by both his robes and how the nurse was looking at him. Her head was slightly bowed, her gaze respectful. The alien who was dressed in the formal robes started to say something to the nurse, and she responded.

He ignored it, the throbbing in his head increasing. His second attempt at getting up was a jarring failure- his head hurt much more now. His vision was failing him, a sign he now recognized as him about to pass out. Great.

“I-” Lance’s speech was slurring already. “I know you are probably some leader or something,” He was talking in English, but his mind wasn’t working well enough to try and translate. “But I can’t really talk right now.”

With that, Lance gave into the headache, and let his body slump on the floor.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the extreme delay!! hopefully new chapters coming more quickly :)

The table underneath him had been replaced by a lush bed that was soft, the blankets on top of him thick. Lance stretched his body, still feeling tired. That might have been the closest thing he has had to actual sleep in a while.

Lance finally let his eyes flick open, and sat up in the bed. The bed was huge, half of the other paladins could fit in here comfortably alongside Lance. Once again, his body felt no pain, but he didn’t want to try and risk standing up again. Instead, Lance pushed himself up so he was leaning against the headboard.

He was in a very different room than before. The walls were covered with a patterned dark red wallpaper which matched the bed that Lance was laying in. The bed itself had intricate carvings on the wooden posts, which led to the ceiling. A large piece of fabric above Lance was attached to the top of the posts, and hung down. This was the fanciest canopy bed that Lance had ever seen. It wasn’t like they had beds like this back at the Garrison, and definitely not on the Castle of Lions. The mattress felt perfect, but that may have been due to he hasn’t laid in a bed with a nice mattress in a long, long time. The blankets and large comforter-duvet set that weighed down on Lance were heavier than he would like- after the crash, and his legs failing to work, his legs being trapped under the comforter made panic slightly trickle in the back of his mind. Lance sat up more until his back was flat against the headboard, and his legs were given a bit more freedom. Sleep was clearing out of his eyes more, so he surveyed the full room. The curtains were drawn, and Lance couldn’t tell if it was light out. The room itself was fancy, with paintings of scenic views of places that Lance didn’t recognize. There was a few arm chairs in the corner, with a smaller table. There were small nightstands on either side of the bed, and a dresser on the other side. Lance could tell that other pieces of furniture and things hanging on the walls that filled the room, but it was too dark to make anything else out.

“I see you are awake now,” A voice came from one of the dark corners of the room where the chairs were. Startled, Lance flinched, resulting in him hitting his head against the headboard.

“ _ Shit, _ ” Lance cursed, rubbing the back of his head. The owner of the voice stepped forward. The alien stepped towards the curtain and pushed it back, letting light stream in. Lance had to squint, adjusting to the sudden light. When his eyes focused, he recognized the figure as the alien who was wearing the formal robes earlier.

“I am King Veiar,” The alien started in Common-speak. “Welcome to our home, Muawe.” Lance stopped breathing for a moment.

The king continued, not noticing how Lance had frozen. “I feel regrets for your pain, but I assure you that the Muawen healers shall help you. We offer hospitality, and a life until you are able to return home.” The king paused to walk towards the bed. “I do hope you can answer some questions. Where is your home? Who are you?”

Lance paused trying to connect all of the dots. His mind felt like it was being filled with cotton, he was hearing the words but all of the information was coming at him too quickly. Now he was finally hearing a language he could understand, but still nothing was making sense.

“Lance.” He finally spoke. “My name is Lance. Once my li-” Lance paused, and adjusted what he was about to say. “-ship begins to work again, I will leave. I do not mean to be of inconvenience to you.”

“Of course. We do not have much in the means of ship repair, but we will try to assist you.” The king hesitated, and Lance knew what was coming next.

“Are you a paladin of Voltron? We have heard whispers of those who control the lions, and how they were back, but I never dreamed that we would meet.”

“Yes. I am the blue paladin of Voltron.” The title that had once been a proud statement fell flat on Lance’s lips. The king did not notice, or maybe the blandness fell through in translation of Common-speak.

“When your lion fell, I sent out my best men to retrieve you, and bring you back safely. There, we found your weapon,” King Veiar gestured to a table on the other side of the room. There, Lance saw his bayard, as well as his armour. Both looked like they were in bad shape, but seeing them gave him a shred of hope. At least the people of Muawe weren’t completely evil. Yet.

“I promise to leave as soon as possible, your highness,” Lance said. “By tomorrow, I will leave the town, and start repairing the lion.”

“You can’t!” His voice raised slightly, startling Lance. King Veiar took a small breath, and smiled. “I apologize. The father in me came out, but I must ask that you stay here. Our healing process, while efficient, is not instantaneous.” The king took another step towards the bed. “During the fall, your legs were hurt very badly. Had we not gotten to you so fast, you may not have ever been able to walk again. Our surgery healed your legs, and took away all of the pain you would be feeling, but you will not be able to walk again for a while. You also were not completely healed, there is pain that we cannot reach through medicine.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your legs are weak. You need to practice walking, go slowly, before you will be able walk normally. We apologize, but our healers are fully prepared to get you back to full health again.” Under the blankets, Lance tried to move his legs. He could move his toes, but actually moving his legs wouldn’t happen. His legs felt like they were being held down by millions of weights. King Veiar was right.

“But what did you mean about the pain you cannot reach?”

“I cannot explain that now, you need rest. But I do have some questions about your ship- You call it a lion, yes?”

Lance nodded, thinking about Blue. “Yes, but she isn’t just a ship. She has a mind of her own. I am her paladin, and she chose me,” He started to explain. “We have a bond, we are connected. Then, when I am with the other paladins, we can all come together as Voltron.” These words used to be exciting, they used to be proud.  

“What do you mean by connected?” The king inquired. Thinking about her made loneliness strike through his mind. Lance reached out to Blue in his thoughts, but received nothing. She was still gone, that part of his mind was empty.

“It’s hard to explain. Wait, how long have I been here?”

“Four nightfalls.”

“ _ Shit _ ,” Lance cursed yet again. “And have you heard from any of the other paladins?” The king shook his head mournfully.

“I apologize, but we have not received any signal. But we are all watching for one, and you will be the first one to know if we gain contact.”

Lance bowed his head slightly, trying to remain respectful, but hiding the hurt. Why haven’t the others come to get him yet?  _ Were they even looking for him? _

“But, what did you mean about the pain that you can-” Lance started to ask, but the door burst open. It startled both King and Lance. Lance’s mind was already racing.

_ It was going to be some alien attack, and they are going to need me to help, but I can’t help, I’m not even a good enough paladin- _

A shadowy figure came through the door, quickly, they were rushing. The king took a step towards the door, but the figure came into the room before he could walk any further. It was the alien nurse from before. She was slightly out of breath and looked disheveled.

She started to speak quickly in their language (It was Muawen, Lance supposed), frantic. The king remained calm, and said something back. Just as the nurse was going to respond, someone else emerged in the dark doorway.

This alien, she was different. Instead of the standard dark skin with gold markings, she had both gold and silver streaks highlighting her face.

The king lowered his head briefly, but raised it so he could meet her gaze. The presence she held was strange, the air became thick with… Something, Lance couldn’t place his finger on what exactly. But this alien, she was different from the other Muawens, at least the ones that Lance has been around.

Sharply, King Veiar turned to the nurse and said a few brisk words. The nurse nodded, and left the room, stepping around the silver and gold Muawen.

The king and the strange woman stared at each other for almost an uncomfortable amount of time. Lance anxiously watched, still frazzled from the dramatic entrance.

After what felt like decades, the woman turned to Lance.

“Lance McClain,” She spoke. “The blue paladin of Voltron.”

It took Lance a moment to realize that she was speaking in English. As his eyes turned wide, the woman continued to talk. “I am pleased to meet you, but not under these circumstances.”

“What?” Lance interrupted. The woman smiled, and turned back to King Veiar. She spoke a few words gently. King Veiar nodded, and walked out of the room.

Lance was still staring in shock at the strange woman as she turned around and walked towards the bed. She sat down on the bed, only a few feet away from Lance.

“As I said, I am sorry we have to meet under these circumstances, but I am glad that we are in the presence of one another.” Her english was perfect, she had no accent at all. Could she be human? But how would you explain the sliver and gold markings?

This was the closest that Lance had been to a Muawen, so he inspected her closely. “My name is Gignida,” She said. Her hair was long, and it was pushed behind one of her ears.

Her ear was pointed, a bit like what the elves in Lance’s younger brother’s books looked like. The Muawens had dark bronze skin that seemed to be all over their body, with the addition of the gold streaks. Everyone has had different placement of the streaks, but so far no one has had the silver streaks such as Gignida does.

“Very intuitive, my dear.” Gignida chuckled. Lance was taken aback.  _ Did he say that outloud? _ “You have already noticed, but I am not like the others. I am a _ nutyus jeol _ , a magic doer. I see worlds other do not, I am connected with the universe. That is how I know you, how I can read you. I know everything that was, everything that is, and everything that will be.”

“You can tell the future?” Lance blurted out before he could stop himself.

“In a sense. I can grasp things, especially if I focus my energy around a specific person. I can tell how the universe feels around them, and I can sense their-” Gignida paused. "I can sense their auras. To answer your question, no, I cannot tell the future. I am not able to see if your friends are coming to get you, young paladin." Gignida bowed her head. “I am sorry.”

She had answered that was already poised on Lance’s lips. Before Lance could ask anything else, before he could even react, Gignida moved even closer to Lance.

“But, I need to give you a gift, Lance.” Gignida started hastily, but then stopped. “To give you this gift, I need to see who you are. I need to look into your soul.”

“What?”

“I will read you, Lance. Give me permission, and I will read your soul.”

“I’m sorry, but- what the fuck does any of that mean?”

Gignida did not seem to be affected by the harsh language, only continued on.

“If you grant me access, I will be able to fully read your soul, and see your mind, see your center and see your intentions with the people of Muawe. If you are deemed worthy, I will give you the gift, and something tells me that you are worthy, paladin.”

“Fine, I will give you permission, or whatever.”

Gignida moved even closer to Lance, he could reach out and touch her if he wanted. She closed her eyes, and the air around them seemed to change.

Gignida started to breathe heavier, her head starting to move backwards. Lance watched this with interest, which then turned to boredom as time passed with no action from Gignida. Just as Lance was about to say something, Gignida’s head jerked upright suddenly, but her eyes remained closed.

“Lance McClain. You resided with your many siblings in Varadero beach, with your mother and father… And the rest of your large family. You dreamed of going to space, so your family helped you get enough scholarships so you could go to the Garrison. There, you met your best friend, Hunk. There was when you began to hear the whispers of loneliness. But you ignored them.” Lance started to say something, demand how she knew this, but something stopped him. He didn’t want to mess with whatever she was doing.”You worked hard, paladin. You tried your best to rise to the top, but you couldn’t no matter how hard you practiced. There were times where you considered giving up, going home. But you didn’t.” Gignida paused. “Why didn’t you? That is much deeper in your soul than I would expect.”

“I couldn’t. I promised my younger brother that I would go to space, I promised my family that I would.” Lance’s voice cracked so he cleared his throat. “I couldn’t let them down like that, I couldn’t let myself down. I wanted to be someone.”

Gignida was silent, but Lance had no more to say. It felt nice to speak english again, after a few days of being lost.

“I see.” Her tone implied that she saw a lot more, but Lance tried not to dwell on the fact  that she could see into his mind right now (Don’t think of porn, don’t think of porn, don’t think of porn). “Then you joined Voltron. You felt excited, you thought this was your chance to be someone. But you didn’t get that chance, did you? You feel like you drifted to the bottom again, like you were only there, just a presence. You felt like you had no worth to the team. And then you found out that you couldn’t go home. You felt even more of a hole in your soul. And that is when the thoughts came back.”

Gignida fell silent again, and Lance knew what she was seeing at this moment. “Young paladin,” She finally said, opening her eyes. “Do you really want the paladins to find you? If you feel like that when you are with them? I can’t assume that being with them is safe-”

“They are my only hope of getting home,” Lance interrupted. “I don’t know how else I can get home without them.”

“My child, you are damaged. You are hurt, in many ways that our medicine- or theirs- cannot help. But-” Gignida closed her eyes again. “Let me continue.”

This went on for a few more minutes, up until she got to the point where Lance started to crash into Muawe. Lance didn't want to hear what she had to say about this. Clearly, Lance hadn't been in a proper or totally safe mindset ( _ When was he ever? _ A voice in the back of his head chimed in), and if he was being judged for things that were going on his mind, Lance did not want to know how he scored on it.

"Lance, while you fell, you did not expect to survive." This wasn't posed as a question, but he still felt like he should respond.

"Yeah. I mean no- I mean, I didn't think I would survive."

"Did you want to survive?"

"That... That I don't know." Lance admitted. He awaited Gignida's response, but there was none. She had tilted her head backwards again, her lips mouthing words that Lance couldn't make out.

Just as Lance was beginning to wonder how long this would take, Gignida opened her eyes and lowered her head. She nodded, staring into Lance's eyes. Even after all of that, the eye contact felt too intense for him, so he quickly broke it by looking away.

Gignida started going through her various pockets, searching for something. She pulled out a small pouch, a bowl, and a stone. She emptied the contents of the pouch into the bowl. Strange looking leaves and powder came out of the pouch, sprinkling down into the bowl. She picked up the largest leaf, and held it out to Lance. When he moved to grab it with his hand, Gignida shook her head.

"Place it on your tongue. Do not chew." She instructed. Lance obediently opened his mouth and allowed her to put the leaf on his tongue.

_ These totally look like drugs. Maybe this is all just a big ruse to drug me and kill me or something. _

He was pleasantly surprised to find that the leaf was tasteless. Once he had gotten used to the object in his mouth, he started to pay attention to what was going on in front of him. Lance watched as she mashed up the remaining leaves and powder in the bowl using the stone. The smell was disgusting, and Lance hoped he wouldn't have to put that mixture into his mouth.

Once the mixture was up to Gignida's standards, she ran her thumb through the mixture, collecting some of it. She then moved closer to Lance, and pressed her thumb on his forehead.

She spread the paste on his forehead in a line, and getting more of it as she went, Gignida got to work on covering Lance's face with the mixture. It had a strange, tingling sensation making Lance briefly think about his skincare routine on the Castle of Lions and wondered if he could find a substitute for that here on Muawe.

Those thoughts left his mind when Gignida put the bowl down on the ground. She was done.

"What is ne-" Lance was cut off by Gignida motioning for Lance to open up his mouth. He did, and but quickly regret it when he saw that Gignida still had some of the goopy mixture in her hand. With a speed that Lance did not expect, she reached into his mouth, pulled out the leaf, spread the mixture on it, and put the leaf back in his mouth.

Lance started to retort something, but quickly realized his mistake when his mouth closed, and the taste of the mixture seeped through his mouth.

Lance was at least right about one thing.

It tasted horrible.

He didn't have to worry about that for long, though, because Gignida was pushing his shoulders back into the bed, and Lance could feel his mind going blank. By the time that his head hit the pillow, Lance was out.

\--

He had no way of telling how long he was out, but when Lance regained consciousness, he had the sense that it hadn't been that long. Gignida was still sitting in the exact same position.

"Hello, Lance." She said when she saw Lance opening his eyes.

Except she didn't say that in English. She didn't say it in Common-speak either.

She said it in a language that Lance did not recognize, yet he understood her. "I see your confusion. Just try to focus, and open your mind."

She was speaking in Muawen. And Lance understood every word.

"What?" Lance stumbled over the word in English. The language, was there, in his mind. He could understand it, and something told him that if he tried to speak it, he could just as fluently as Gignida was.

"Try, my child. Try to speak our language."

Lance let his eyes flutter shut, trying to shove out the blatant panic and confusion that was in his mind right now.

"I d-don't understand." The words came out perfectly in a language that a week ago, Lance hadn't even known had existed but now was able to speak it like he was born here. "How is this possible?"

Gignida smiled, obivously pleased by Lance speaking in Muawen.

"Your gift was the language of the people. As you learn to walk, as you learn to heal, you will need to be able to communicate. Common-speak is not something that many Muawens know, let alone are fluent it. Muawe has always been in it's own corner of the universe, so tucked away that visitors are rare. There has never been a need for a different language, until you, that is."

"So you just, gave me another language?" Lance was still responding in Muawen. This was weird, very, very, weird.

"Yes. I opened your mind, my child. Do not abuse this power. Use it to heal, to grow."

Lance's head hurt from all of this, so he leaned his head back against the pillow again. His eyes shut,  but he heard Gignida moving around, her robes dragging on the ground as she stood up.

"Sleep, young Lance McClain. Rest. In the morning, new beginnings will arise." Gignida left the room, shutting the door behind her.

Lance let out a loud groan, not finding it within him to care about the fact that she literally sounded like some lame motivational poster. But at least she was right about one thing.  _ Sleep. _

For the first time in a while, Lance let himself fall asleep simply due to tiredness, not because of intense pain or any of the other crap that he has gone through in the past days.

Lance slept.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'nutyus jeol' is just something i made up? sorry if it means anything offensive, and please tell me if it does!!   
> dont forget to put kudos and comment if you guys want more!!

**Author's Note:**

> Translations (please tell me if I got anything wrong and I will correct it!):  
> Lo siento mucho mamá = I am so sorry, Mom 
> 
> Yo era apenas un niño = I was just a child


End file.
